Monday, August 8, 2016

Morgan Lewis, Veterans Group Win $3.9M Legal-Fee Award Against Feds

A $3.9 million fee award against the federal government has capped a
long and successful legal effort by a team of lawyers from Morgan, Lewis
& Bockius and a veterans legal services group on behalf of more
than 2,000 veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Judge Margaret Sweeney of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims approved the fees on July 26 following a class action settlement for the veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lead
counsel Brad Fagg, a litigation partner at Morgan Lewis in Washington,
and Bart Stichman, joint executive director of the National Veterans
Legal Services Program, filed the pro bono suit in 2008, claiming that
the veterans' assigned disability ratings of less than 50 percent were
contrary to law.

In 2011, the claims court approved a settlement
agreement providing that each class member would, at a minimum, have his
or her military records corrected to reflect a 50 percent disability
rating for a six-month period.

Sweeney rejected multiple arguments
by the government against the requested fee award and awarded
$3,862,924.53 in fees and expenses for the attorneys who "ably
represented" the veterans. The judge said the requested fees and
expenses “were incurred for work that was reasonable and necessary for
them to obtain relief.”

Morgan Lewis has had a longstanding relationship with the National Veterans Legal Services Program.

"The
story of this case is a long and complicated one, but ultimately, we
got to the place where these 2,000 vets wanted to be," Fagg said.

While
fee award is "nice," he added, "We're really most happy about the
underlying results we got for the vets—correction of records and health
benefits. I am very grateful to my firm which allowed us to take on this
case on a pro bono basis. That’s an important part of what we do."